It's healthy! Children who play video games score higher on brain tests

According to new research, children who play video games have better memory and better control over their motor skills than children who don't play them.

Here's What We Know

It's not really a fact that it may be exactly the "beneficial effect" of video games, since the study can't say exactly what it's related to, but it is a fact that gamers got better results in the test.

"This study contributes to our understanding of the connection between video game play and brain development, " said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in a statement.

The study used data from the Teen Brain Cognitive Development Study, which began in 2018 and tracks the brain development of thousands of children in the United States. Participants periodically undergo a series of assessments, including brain imaging, cognitive tasks, mental health checks, physical health exams and other tests.

The study found that video game players performed better on the tests. They also had differences in brain activity patterns from those who did not play games -- they had more activity in brain areas related to attention and memory when they performed the tests. Remarkably, there were no differences between the two groups regarding mental health indicators (more evidence refuting the widespread concern that video games are bad for emotional well-being).

Again, though, it is not yet clear exactly why such differences exist. It could also be that people who already have more focus on tasks like those in this study are more attracted to video games

Source: The Verge